TheDougOut

Some kind of Jungle Juice at the Atrium Bar, with “Learn French” taking place on the big screen.

Sue is leading the parallel Starbucks Crawl...

Just now, atanac said:

Perhaps the Cruise Director doesn't want outsiders painting on his canvas.

Nah... Silas & other higher-ups love the group.  

Dan’s Jungle Cruise Bar Crawl...

Stacy brought buttons and masks...

Sue just arrived back at the stateroom with shrimp crisps... now in color!

The cabin crawl has completed.  NCL threw us a curveball by calling us 1 1/2 hours prior to the start to let us know that they weren’t participating.  

We eventually gained access to 3 cabin categories, and found out one had been open & staged since the 2-day preview cruise.  

We’re definitely getting a different vibe from NCL’s group events team this time around.  They were amazing on the Bliss, and have been nothing but difficult in preparation of this one.  We do our best to hide it all from those participating.

I’m less-hesitant to make oddball meal requests in the Haven restaurant, such as this swiss-instead-of-hollandaise Benedict...

We’ve been navigating through a group-events issue all morning related to our cabin crawl that’s coming up shortly.

These waves are getting to me, which makes for great timing of the Jungle Cruise Bar Crawl at 2 PM.  

The bow splash just rose above the bridge...

Alright, here’s a Haven perk I’d miss downstairs... wonderful iced coffee at breakfast.  

It feels like we’re in the roughest seas we’ve had so far.  Which calls for some more...

7 hours ago, brer111 said:

Doug - I thought they dropped extra charge for Ocean Blue is that true? And then is it just extra for certain items on the menu?

Yep!  

Oye.  I woke up in the middle of the night, fully clothed, with my contacts glued to my eyes.

This morning, I find this outbound message...

And this inbound message...

Just now, ClevelandCruisin said:

Doing Ocean Blue day 1 on our cruise in December.

I think I just had the best-executed meal on NCL... ever. They hit the ground running at Ocean Blue, as everything was cooked & seasoned perfectly.

I had the surf & turf, with an SDP charge that seemed relatively close to the prior restaurant SDP surcharge.

Out meal here on the Bliss crossing was a HUGE disappointment.  So kudos to NCL for figuring this one out so early on. 

Just now, nancydow said:

I am loving this live review ... and I'm onboard!

 

Honestly, HUGE kudos to you Doug for organizing and executing an amazing slot pull. I was getting thanked and kept telling everyone you were the one to thank!

 

And I can't help but wonder, did we beat the Bliss inaugural TA M&G numbers?

New phone... who dis? 

Just now, Isabella Benjamin said:

A $25 supplement charge with the dinner package for a lobster at Ocean Blue?

Disclaimer: I compensate Sue.

#profit

Maitre’d just stopped over to ask if I wanted another beer, and offered to send someone over to DBH to retrieve it.

Disclaimer: NCL compensates me with free onboard GrubHub. 

Serious question...

If I had my “butler phone” right now, could I have summoned a 90 Minute IPA from the Brew House?  I’m sweating, and Sue loves when I leave her.

This one had to be cropped because of Sue’s impatient hunger...

Just now, PortFees45 said:

Yes. If these boards are flooded with people secretly being paid by NCL's PR shop (not saying that is occurring in this review), it would compromise the integrity of the discussions. A simple disclaimer would help to clear that up. 

View my recent post history and my critique of NCL’s recent design choices.  I wouldn’t be eager to book the Encore for anything other than a cold-weather transatlantic at 50% occupancy. 

The Escape, on the other hand... I get paid $0.25 every time someone says “home”. 

My first “proper” stop at DBH on the way down to Ocean Blue...

Disclaimer: I don’t compensate Sue.

Sitting here waiting for Ocean Blue, while I receive some Garden Cafe photos from a friend...

I wonder if OB will run up and grab me some.

Just now, ohiocruisemom said:

Thank you so much for the review!  We are on the Dec 1st sailing in Haven.  Are Branco and Victoria in the Haven Bar? They were on our September Escape cruise and indicated they would move over to Encore. 

If I ever get over there I’ll let you know.  I’m more a “drop down to 8” kind of guy.

Just now, PortFees45 said:

I think in these reviews there should be a disclaimer where people state they're not being compensated by NCL. 

They do keep dumping yummy treats off in our stateroom, but I assume that’s just because I aggressively bid to be in the Haven.

In regards to running a roll call, there are plenty of people that do this for ulterior motives.  That’s not me.  I’ve probably spent more money on the Bliss & Encore inaugural transatlantic roll calls than what my original M8 stateroom cost.  

We went in search of shrimp crisps, but the Garden Cafe was completely shutdown in preparation for dinner.  They were redirecting everyone to the Observation lounge, where we enjoyed a plate of potato chips while surrounded by bare feet on couches.  

We just grabbed an Ocean Blue reservation for 60 minutes from now.